The Strongest Magic (Hold My Beer 3)
by MenacingRelic98
Summary: Nino and Delthea are similar in many ways, both being young but potent masters of magic. However, they're very different in others, and this combination of differences and similarities draw them together. Part 3 of the Hold My Beer series.


The Strongest Magic

A Delthea x Nino Fanfic by MenacingRelic98

Part Three of "Hold My Beer: A series of Fire Emblem Heroes ship-fics inspired by comments on Reddit"

* * *

By all accounts, it was a lovely day. The sun was bright, but it wasn't overbearingly hot. Birds of all kinds sung magnificent tunes. The morale of the army was high. It was just so very peaceful.

" _And BORING."_ Delthea thought. _"So very boring."_

She wandered around a bit. What else was there to do, work on whatever strange project Kiran was on about? The only people who could find that fun would be weird mountain men like that Atlas guy from back in Valentia. Or total suckers like—

"I'll do my best!" Nino cheered. She began sorting the army's weapons: Swords go here, lances there, whatever.

" _Geez…how can she find that so fun?"_ Nino had always been an enigma to Delthea because of her upbeat attitude in the face on any task, no matter how much it clearly sucked. But still, they were friends; after all, mage prodigies have to stick together. And besides, she was kinda cute….

She stared at Nino a bit, watching her happily skip as she sorted weapons. Suddenly, Nino turned her head, realizing Delthea was there. "Oh! Hi! How are you?"

"…Hmm? Oh…I'm good, I guess." Delthea answered absentmindedly.

Nino stared for a bit, not fully buying the answer before resuming her work. "You sure? You seem a little down."

Delthea sighed. "It's stupid, but I guess I'm just a little jealous. How can you have so much fun doing something so booooring?"

Nino just smiled. "Well, I didn't get to do many things when I was with my…er…lets say, 'foster mom', so I did my best to enjoy anything I could. It just made me happy to see others happy…"

Delthea frowned. "So…were you trying to impress them?"

Nino paused, a finger to her lip. "Hmm…I mean, I guess so!"

"…."

Delthea shook a bit, somewhat uneasily.

"What's wrong?" Nino asked.

"Nothing, it's just—I mean…it kinda reminds me of me."

"Eh?!" Nino was taken aback.

"Listen," Delthea continued, "When I was littler, I wanted more than anything to impress my parents. I would train and practice magic for hours and hours."

Nino was staring intently at her now, captivated by the story.

"But it was never enough. They were all, 'No no no! Not good enough!' So you know what? I eventually decided, 'screw it'. I don't need their approval to feel powerful! And you know what? I don't think you need anyone's approval but your own!" Delthea let out a big smile.

Nino looked off to the side. "That would've been nice, I guess, but…"

Delthea sat down on the ground in front of Nino.

"When I was with the fang, my...um, 'mother' was very manipulative….and cruel. No matter what I did, I always felt I had to please her. And if I didn't…."

A teardrop. A whimper.

"Nino…I'm…I'm so sorry….."

"….huh?"

Delthea winced a little bit. "I never meant to hurt you, or devalue any of the pain you went through. I forget all the time you were part of the Black Fang."

"I'm still sorry, Nino!"

"N-no…don't be sorry…." Nino wiped the tears clean, and giggled a bit. "Maybe you knocked loose some bad memories, but… I do appreciate that…how you treat me just like anyone else, and you were just trying to make me strong. Like you always do."

Delthea was taken aback now, and a bit red to boot. "M-make you strong? Come on Nino…what are friends for….?

"I mean, yeah, but…it's different when I'm with you!"

Delthea grew….redder. "Oh yeah? Well…" she looked off to the side, hiding her smile, "how?"

Nino paused for a moment; it wasn't easy to explain. "Well…my heart flutters a bit, and I feel warm whenever you're with me, but…it doesn't make me lose focus, it makes me stronger! I feel like I can do anything when I'm with you!"

Delthea's smile grew wider.

"I don't know if it's because you're just so _awesome_ , or if it's because of our magical synergy, but when I'm with you I feel like I could burst with power!"

Delthea was grinning ear to ear, her heart fluttering wildly

"And that's why I'm so glad you're my friend!"

Delthea, still smiling, tilted her head a bit. She turned back to Nino. "You…think of me as a friend, huh?"

"Well, yeah! How else could I think of you?"

Putting up a confident front, Delthea answered. "Well, it sounds like you're in love with me! Heeheeheehee…."

Nino's eyes widened, but she shook her head. "But girls can't be in love with girls…."

"Can too!"

"Can not!

"Can too!"

"How would you know?"

"Because I'm in love with you, you idiot!"

"…..!"

Delthea turned bright red, hands rushing to cover her mouth, as though she could shove the words back inside.

"You…love…me? Even if you like girls….why me? I'm so—"

"Stop."

"?"

Delthea took a deep breath and decided to throw all her cards onto the table. "You're not worthless, or useless, you're brilliant! No matter what, you face down all your problems with the strength of every warrior put together! And whenever I'm with you, I…"

A pause. "All those things you described earlier…you make me feel the same way, like I want us to be together forever! S-so I'm…I'm going to ask….!"

"Do you love me back?!"

"…"

"…"

"…yes."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

The Writer's Block was real with this one, but it's personally my favorite of the pairings I've done. I feel the two have a lot of natural chemistry and would not be opposed to writing more of this ship in the future.

Anyway, I have a bit of a queue set up so the next one will be Micaiah x Robin. Maybe I should have made these, like, all one story, with each of the individual pairings as chapters, but eh.

Have a fantastic day!


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